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The justification for holding to geocentrism in then contrasted with the fact that as our telescopes improved, many scientists refused to accept the new theory and wanted to cling to the old. He even explains in simple terms how once we were able to calculate the size of the earth, we were able to approximate the sizes of both the sun and moon as well as their distances, all using elementary methods. It is an historical overview of all the scientific endeavors that lead to the discovery and ultimately acceptance of the big bang model of the origin of the universe, but it reads like a drama. But that was because of the scale that we were working with.
The author begins with some of humanities very earliest knowledge of the cosmos. Other than that, this book is nearly flawless. This is also seen when the author discusses Einstein's theory of relativity. The author goes on to explain many of the phenomena that the big bang model could not explain at the time, and then shows when it was explained, by whom, and how. The story continues as we learn about the discoveries of Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and other famous names in the "classical" understanding of the universe.
His theory implied an overthrow of some of Newton's theories, which seemed to be tried and true tested. It was a very fascinating and easy read. There are many interesting characters who greatly contributed in various ways, and their scientific achievements as well as personal stories makes this book a page turner. It was with Einstein's theory of relativity that some of the scientific community began to see that the universe may have begun to exist, and so the big bang model begins to form. One thing that was very interesting was how the author made the case that at the time, humanity had very good reasons for holding to geocentrism, including geocentrism's ability to predict things as well as the inability to detect the parallax shifts.
This was due to the fact that the stars were WAY further from us then we could have possibly imagined. From here, we meet many fascinating characters, including Gamow and Hubble. One does not need to know much science (if any) to appreciate this book and the drama that is the story of the big bang.
I felt that the writing style was very smooth and easy to read. The Big Bang provides an incredible, in-depth, detailed overview of the history of cosmology. From the founding fathers of science to 20th century geniuses, Simon Singh provides incredible detail into each of their lives and contributions. Even if I weren't at all interested in science, reading this book would have been very, very easy and fun. Overall, it's a great book, even if you've never felt naturally inclined towards science.
An excellent book. Reads like a novel. Great for someone like me who knows a little physics but hasn't updated it since discussing brewons and beerins with a physicist friend twenty years ago at university.Singh tells the story well and gets the reader to understand why it matters. He does it with good humour, and a generous appreciation of human ambition, ingenuity, persistence and vanity, and how all four characteristics are often combined in one person at one time.
I read so many books to put together the same facts I just found in one book: Big Bang by Simon Singh. The summaries at the end of each chapter, as well as the tables of comparison, constitute an efficient way of serving the objectivity with which these topics are discussed throughout the book. I savored every single word. The way the book is written makes it easy to grasp the concepts, which were given an equal amount of thought and consideration. Loved it, loved it. I highly recommend it to everyone who loves science in general, this including old and new theories alike.
Another excellent book from Dr. Singh I could not put down. This book has increased my interest in the cosmos; I will now search for a book to fill in the gaps mentioned by other researchers in the hope of understanding the concepts behind the search for dark matter in the CERN laboratories. I will also buy a telescope and teach my son some of the concepts contained in this book.
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